can fear himself, and the remorse
felt by all those who are conscious of having incurred or merited the
hatred of their fellow-creatures.

Conscience is the internal testimony, which we bear to ourselves, of
having acted so as to merit the esteem or blame of the beings, with whom
we live; and it is founded upon the clear knowledge we have of men, and of
the sentiments which our actions must produce in them. The Conscience of
the religious man consists in imagining that he has pleased or displeased
his God, of whom he has no idea, and whose obscure and doubtful intentions
are explained to him only by men of doubtful veracity, who, like him, are
utterly unacquainted with the essence of the Deity, and are little agreed
upon what can please or displease him. In a word, the conscience of the
credulous is directed by men, who have themselves an erroneous conscience,
or whose interest stifles knowledge.

"Can an Atheist have a Conscience? What are his motives to abstain from
hidden vices and secret crimes of which other men are ignorant, and which
are beyond the reach of laws?" He may be assured by constant experience,
that there is no vice, which, by the nature of things, does not punish
itself. Would he preserve this life? he will avoid every excess, that
may impair his health; he will not wish to lead a languishing life, which
would render him a burden to himself and others. As for secret crimes, he
will abstain from them, for fear he shall be forced to blush at himself,
from whom he cannot flee. If he has any reason, he will know the value
of the esteem which an honest man ought to have for himself. He will
see, that unforeseen circumstances may unveil the conduct, which he feels
interested in concealing from others. The other world furnishes no motives
for doing good, to him, who finds none on earth.

179.

"The speculative Atheist," says the Theist, "may be an honest man, but his
writings will make political Atheists. Princes and ministers, no longer
restrained by the fear of God, will abandon themselves, without scruple,
to the most horrid excesses." But, however great the depravity of an
Atheist upon the throne, can it be stronger and more destructive, than
that of the many conquerors, tyrants, persecutors, ambitious men, and
perverse courtiers, who, though not Atheists, but often very religious and
devout, have notwithstanding made humanity groan under the weight of their
crimes? Can an atheistical prince do